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If you are in the public relations business, by now you must be familiar with “newsjacking”, more recently well articulated by David Meerman Scott (are you following him on twitter – you must do – @dmscott )

For those who are late, here’s how David defines newsjacking : “the process by which you inject your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real-time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business. It creates a level playing field—literally anyone can newsjack—but, that new level favors players who are observant, quick to react, and skilled at communicating. It’s a powerful tool that can be used to throw an opponent or simply draft off the news momentum to further your own ends”.

By that, newsjacking is the easiest tool available in the arsenal of any right thinking public relations pro. And despite many downfalls and issues of ethics in what events ought and ought not to be “newsjacked”

You can read a load of stuff, all over the net, and in PR fora’ on recent uses of newsjacking, where it worked well and where it backfired.

Looking around, it realized on us that the pioneers of “newsjacking” are right here in India. You might be pleasantly surprised, but, in my view its as earyly as 1966 that and India company (offcourse with the help of their great agency) India might as well the home to “newsjacking”

Here, is a part of the story of Amul topical (courtesy : amul.com) Twitter handle – @amul_coop

On the Enron controversy!

“For 30 odd years the Utterly Butterly girl has managed to keep her fan following intact. So much so that the ads are now ready to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest running campaign ever. The ultimate compliment to the butter came when a British company launched a butter and called it Utterly Butterly, last year.

It all began in 1966 when Sylvester daCunha, then the managing director of the advertising agency, ASP, clinched the account for Amul butter. The butter, which had been launched in 1945, had a staid, boring image, primarily because the earlier advertising agency which was in charge of the account preferred to stick to routine, corporate ads.

In India, food was something one couldn’t afford to fool around with. It had been taken too seriously, for too long. Sylvester daCunha decided it was time for a change of image.

The year Sylvester daCunha took over the account, the country saw the birth of a campaign whose charm has endured fickle public opinion, gimmickry and all else.

The Amul girl who lends herself so completely to Amul butter, created as a rival to the Polson butter girl. This one was sexy, village belle, clothed in a tantalising choli all but covering her upper regions. “Eustace Fernandez (the art director) and I decided that we needed a girl who would worm her way into a housewife’s heart. And who better than a little girl?” says Sylvester daCunha. And so it came about that the famous Amul Moppet was born”

In a sense, even unknowingly, the Amul moppet has been ever since 1966, been only using the concept of newsjacking in the best possible way, on issues that confront the people of this country – issues which were breaking news…

Right time to newsjack?!

If you chose to look at the graph by David on when you should newjack, and compare it with what Amul has been doing almost on a daily basis since the birth of the Amul moppet, what else would you call the Amul topical but newsjacking in its truest sense.

And even better, Amul has been newsjacking using traditional media (call it brick and mortar), decades before all this internet thing happened!

So, who else but our own Amul as pioneers of newsjacking? Surely, David Meerman Scott would agree, hopefully.

In the armor of public relations professionals all across the globe, news-jacking has indeed arrived.

By now there are a handful of examples, as to how the alert and agile communications professionals can plug in his brand with any real-time news to get a viral visibility – in a sense, an exponential brand visibility which no other conventional tool in the PR armor can ever bring in. This lucid post by PR thought leader David Meerman Scott informs about the what, where, how and when of news-jacking. For any aspiring news-jacker, Davids latest book on the subject is a must read.

To quote from a popular post – you news-jack on virality… that’s what any smart communications pro does – take something that’s already gone viral, and piggyback on its success by creating your own awesome spin on it. There are several companies out there who have done it — and done it well.

Move on now to the debate on what is right and wrong in news jacking. Some of the most popular brands in the US have now started to gain a tangible brand-lift by news-jacking the presidential elections. But, what is beginning to generate a debate now on the virtues and vices of news-jacking is Hurricane Sandy, that has battered the east coast of USA, causing huge damage to people and property.

Brands – as diverse as from careers to cosmetics, and essential supply services lost no time in jumping into the news-jacking band-wagon!

But is it right for brands to look at promoting themselves, by plugging them in the visibility that a monstrous disaster like Sandy gets in the social world? The answer for this can be – yes, only when your brand is placed well to serve the essentials for the people who have been tormented by the storm. And no, if your brand intention is to just exploit the visibility, but has nothing to do with the aftermath of the event!

Extending that, its fine if you are a utility or essential service provider for your brand to be plugged in. But if you are a hair-do company, or a cosmetic (like the one suggesting to spend your home time trying a new product of theirs!), then news-jacking will be a fail in the long run. What are your views? You think a hair do company must news-jack Hurricane Sandy?